John I. Wallace was elected to office in 2011. With a background in law enforcement spanning 24 years, Sheriff Wallace had been named the Chief of Police in Madison, Indiana in 2008. Prior being named Chief, Wallace was a Detective for eight years. As Chief, Wallace resurrected the D.A.R.E. Program, K9 Program, implemented Neighborhood Watches, expanded the bike patrols and developed a local Emergency Response Team.

Chief Deputy -David Thomas

The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy is David Thomas. With a background in law enforcement and security; Chief Deputy Thomas brings over 31 yeas of combined experience to the Sheriff’s Office. By focusing on administrative services, Chief Deputy Thomas will help to increase public service and eliminate some administrative assignments other officers.

Jail Information

Jail Commander: Linda Pietrykowski
Deputy Jail Commander: John Bible
Inmates of the Jefferson County Jail will have several privileges including visitation, telephone, commissary and others. The inmates conduct while incarcerated will determine where they are housed and which privileges and programs they may be eligible for while incarcerated.

County Information

Jefferson County, Indiana , is on the north bank of the Ohio River, is as much of a delight to visitors today as it was to settlers two centuries ago. Historic Madison, Hanover and the towns and farms of the county still retain their rich American Heritage. Historic architecture provides a colorful backdrop to a successful community for business farming, small industry and education. Entertainment abounds. Festivals, music and theater, sports, hydroplane racing, and hometown celebrations are enjoyed in an agreeable climate with friendly folks.

The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office

Gun Permit Information

Monday - Friday
8:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.

Four Year Gun Permits:
$10 at the time of application / $30 mailed to the State of Indiana

Lifetime Gun Permits:
Valid: $40 at the time of application / $60 mailed to the State of Indiana

Expired and New:
$50 at the time of application / $75 mailed to the State of Indiana

Retired Law Enforcement: Lifetime:
Free

INDIANA GUN LAWS

IC 35-47-2-1
Carrying a handgun without a license or by person convicted of domestic battery
35-47-2-1 Sec. 1. (a) Except as provided in subsection (b) and section 2 of this chapter, a person shall not carry a handgun in any vehicle or on or about the person's body, except in the person's dwelling, on the person's property or fixed place of business, without a license issued under this chapter being in the person's possession.
(b) Unless the person's right to possess a firearm has been restored under IC 3-7-13-5 or IC 33-28-4-8, a person who has been convicted of domestic battery under IC 35-42-2-1.3 may not possess or carry a handgun in any vehicle or on or about the person's body in the person's dwelling or on the person's property or fixed place of business.

IC 35-47-2-2
Excepted persons
35-47-2-2 Sec. 2. Section 1 of this chapter does not apply to:
(1) marshals;
(2) sheriffs;
(3) the commissioner of the department of correction or persons authorized by him in writing to carry firearms;
(4) judicial officers;
(5) law enforcement officers;
(6) members of the armed forces of the United States or of the national guard or organized reserves while they are on duty;
(7) regularly enrolled members of any organization duly authorized to purchase or receive such weapons from the United States or from this state who are at or are going to or from their place of assembly or target practice;
(8) employees of the United States duly authorized to carry handguns;
(9) employees of express companies when engaged in company business;
(10) any person engaged in the business of manufacturing, repairing, or dealing in firearms or the agent or representative of any such person having in his possession, using, or carrying a handgun in the usual or ordinary course of that business; or
(11) any person while carrying a handgun unloaded and in a secure wrapper from the place of purchase to his dwelling or fixed place of business, or to a place of repair or back to his dwelling or fixed place of business, or in moving from one dwelling or business to another.

IC 35-47-2-3
Application for license to carry handgun; procedure
35-47-2-3 Sec. 3. (a) A person desiring a license to carry a handgun shall apply:
(1) to the chief of police or corresponding law enforcement officer of the municipality in which the applicant resides;
(2) if that municipality has no such officer, or if the applicant does not reside in a municipality, to the sheriff of the county in which the applicant resides after the applicant has obtained an application form prescribed by the superintendent; or
(3) if the applicant is a resident of another state and has a regular place of business or employment in Indiana, to the sheriff of the county in which the applicant has a regular place of business or employment.
The superintendent and local law enforcement agencies shall allow an applicant desiring to obtain or renew a license to carry a handgun to submit an application electronically under this chapter if federal funds are available to establish and maintain an electronic application system.
(b) The law enforcement agency which accepts an application for a handgun license shall collect the following application fees:
(1) From a person applying for a four (4) year handgun license, a ten dollar ($10) application fee, five dollars ($5) of which shall be refunded if the license is not issued.
(2) From a person applying for a lifetime handgun license who does not currently possess a valid Indiana handgun license, a fifty dollar ($50) application fee, thirty dollars ($30) of which shall be refunded if the license is not issued.
(3) From a person applying for a lifetime handgun license who currently possesses a valid Indiana handgun license, a forty dollar ($40) application fee, thirty dollars ($30) of which shall be refunded if the license is not issued.
Except as provided in subsection (h), the fee shall be deposited into the law enforcement agency's firearms training fund or other appropriate training activities fund and used by the agency to train law enforcement officers in the proper use of firearms or in other law enforcement duties, or to purchase firearms or firearm related equipment, or both for the law enforcement officers employed by the law enforcement agency. The state board of accounts shall establish rules for the proper accounting and expenditure of funds collected under this subsection.
(c) The officer to whom the application is made shall ascertain the applicant's name, full address, length of residence in the community, whether the applicant's residence is located within the limits of any city or town, the applicant's occupation, place of business or employment, criminal record, if any, and convictions (minor traffic offenses excepted), age, race, sex, nationality, date of birth, citizenship, height, weight, build, color of hair, color of eyes, scars and marks, whether the applicant has previously held an Indiana license to carry a handgun and, if so, the serial number of the license and year issued, whether the applicant's license has ever been suspended or revoked, and if so, the year and reason for the suspension or revocation, and the applicant's reason for desiring a license. The officer to whom the application is made shall conduct an investigation into the applicant's official records and verify thereby the applicant's character and reputation, and shall in addition verify for accuracy the information contained in the application, and shall forward this information together with the officer's recommendation for approval or disapproval and one (1) set of legible and classifiable fingerprints of the applicant to the superintendent.
(d) The superintendent may make whatever further investigation the superintendent deems necessary. Whenever disapproval is recommended, the officer to whom the application is made shall provide the superintendent and the applicant with the officer's complete and specific reasons, in writing, for the recommendation of disapproval.
(e) If it appears to the superintendent that the applicant:
(1) has a proper reason for carrying a handgun;
(2) is of good character and reputation;
(3) is a proper person to be licensed; and
(4) is:
(A) a citizen of the United States; or
(B) not a citizen of the United States but is allowed to carry a firearm in the United States under federal law;
the superintendent shall issue to the applicant a qualified or an unlimited license to carry any handgun lawfully possessed by the applicant. The original license shall be delivered to the licensee. A copy shall be delivered to the officer to whom the application for license was made. A copy shall be retained by the superintendent for at least four (4) years in the case of a four (4) year license. The superintendent may adopt guidelines to establish a records retention policy for a lifetime license. A four (4) year license shall be valid for a period of four (4) years from the date of issue. A lifetime license is valid for the life of the individual receiving the license. The license of police officers, sheriffs or their deputies, and law enforcement officers of the United States government who have been honorably retired by a lawfully created pension board or its equivalent after twenty (20) or more years of service, shall be valid for the life of these individuals. However, a lifetime license is automatically revoked if the license holder does not remain a proper person.
(f) At the time a license is issued and delivered to a licensee under subsection (e), the superintendent shall include with the license information concerning handgun safety rules that:
(1) neither opposes nor supports an individual's right to bear arms; and
(2) is:
(A) recommended by a nonprofit educational organization that is dedicated to providing education on safe handling and use of firearms;
(B) prepared by the state police department; and
(C) approved by the superintendent.
The superintendent may not deny a license under this section because the information required under this subsection is unavailable at the time the superintendent would otherwise issue a license. The state police department may accept private donations or grants to defray the cost of printing and mailing the information required under this subsection.
(g) A license to carry a handgun shall not be issued to any person who:
(1) has been convicted of a felony;
(2) has had a license to carry a handgun suspended, unless the person's license has been reinstated;
(3) is under eighteen (18) years of age;
(4) is under twenty-three (23) years of age if the person has been adjudicated a delinquent child for an act that would be a felony if committed by an adult; or
(5) has been arrested for a Class A or Class B felony, or any other felony that was committed while armed with a deadly weapon or that involved the use of violence, if a court has found probable cause to believe that the person committed the offense charged.
In the case of an arrest under subdivision (5), a license to carry a handgun may be issued to a person who has been acquitted of the specific offense charged or if the charges for the specific offense are dismissed. The superintendent shall prescribe all forms to be used in connection with the administration of this chapter.
(h) If the law enforcement agency that charges a fee under subsection (b) is a city or town law enforcement agency, the fee shall be deposited in the law enforcement continuing education fund established under IC 5-2-8-2.
(i) If a person who holds a valid license to carry a handgun issued under this chapter:
(1) changes the person's name;
(2) changes the person's address; or
(3) experiences a change, including an arrest or a conviction, that may affect the person's status as a proper person (as defined in IC 35-47-1-7) or otherwise disqualify the person from holding a license;
the person shall, not later than thirty (30) days after the date of a change described under subdivision (3), and not later than sixty (60) days after the date of the change described under subdivision (1) or (2), notify the superintendent, in writing, of the event described under subdivision (3) or, in the case of a change under subdivision (1) or (2), the person's new name or new address.
(j) The state police shall indicate on the form for a license to carry a handgun the notification requirements of subsection (i).
(k) The state police department shall adopt rules under IC 4-22-2 to implement an electronic application system under subsection (a). Rules adopted under this section must require the superintendent to

keep on file one (1) set of classifiable and legible fingerprints from every person who has received a license to carry a handgun so that a person who applies to renew a license will not be required to submit an additional set of fingerprints.

IC 35-47-2-6
Granting or rejecting initial application; renewals
35-47-2-6 Sec. 6. (a) Every initial application for any license under this chapter shall be granted or rejected within sixty (60) days after the application is filed.
(b) The period during which an application for the renewal of an existing license may be filed begins one hundred eighty (180) days before the expiration of the existing license. If the application for renewal of an existing license is filed within thirty (30) days of its expiration, the existing license is automatically extended until the application for renewal is passed upon.

IC 35-47-2-17
Giving false information or offering false evidence of identity; violation of section
35-47-2-17 Sec. 17. No person, in purchasing or otherwise securing delivery of a handgun or in applying for a license to carry a handgun, shall give false information or offer false evidence of identity. In addition to any penalty provided by this chapter, any handgun obtained through false information shall be subject to confiscation and disposition as provided in this chapter. Upon notice of a violation of this section by the superintendent, it shall be the duty of the sheriff or chief of police or corresponding officer of the jurisdiction in which the purchaser resides to confiscate the firearm and retain it as evidence pending trial for the offense.

IC 35-47-2-23
Violations; classes of misdemeanors and felonies
35-47-2-23 Sec. 23. (a) A person who violates section 3, 4, 5, 14, 15, or 16 of this chapter commits a Class B misdemeanor.
(b) A person who violates section 7, 17, or 18 of this chapter commits a Class C felony.
(c) A person who violates section 1 of this chapter commits a Class A misdemeanor. However, the offense is a Class C felony:
(1) if the offense is committed:
(A) on or in school property;
(B) within one thousand (1,000) feet of school property; or
(C) on a school bus; or
(2) if the person:
(A) has a prior conviction of any offense under:
(i) this subsection; or
(ii) subsection (d); or
(B) has been convicted of a felony within fifteen (15) years before the date of the offense.
(d) A person who violates section 22 of this chapter commits a Class A misdemeanor. However, the offense is a Class D felony if the person has a prior conviction of any offense under this subsection or subsection (c), or if the person has been convicted of a felony within fifteen (15) years before the date of the offense.

The mission of the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office is to protect and serve the community’s quest for a peaceful and safe existence, free from fear, and with democratic values applied equally to all citizens..More